Have you notice an onset of headaches, back aches and neck pain when you are working from home or in the office? It may be due to your workstation set up. The recent Covid-19 restrictions have led to more people working from home. We are seeing an increasingly number of patients reporting back or neck issues in our clinic due to a poor home office set up.
The issue is that the office desk and chair we have is not built for only us, it is built for everyone! Spending 8 hours a day slouching can create pain for anyone. How do we fix this? Here are 5 tips to help you achieve a better ergonomic set up at home:
1. Chair height: the average desk height is approximately 75cm tall. Some people may find this height either short or tall for them. This is where your office chair comes to the rescue! Adjust your chair height till your elbows are bent at 90 degrees to the table. If your feet cannot reach the floor due to this set up, you can use a foot stool or something to elevate your feet e.g. reams of paper.
2. Monitor set up: Monitors should be approximately one arm’s length away from you. This will reduce eye strain and the habit of bending your neck forward. Elevate your monitor till the top of the monitor is eye level. You can use books to help elevate your monitor. If you work from 2 or more monitors then remember that you should always have your primary monitor that you use the most directly facing in front of you.
3. Laptop set up: If you use a laptop then it is recommended to use a kickstand to raise the laptop to an appropriate height. Since the laptop trackpad and keyboard will be difficult to reach, an external keyboard and mouse can be used on the desk.
4. Accessories: You should have your accessories that you use frequently be an arm’s length away from your reach on the desk. For example, many of us use our phone frequently during work. For this reason, we should have it close by to us so we do not have the need to over reach.
5. Take frequent breaks: We often hear that we need to maintain the perfect posture at work however contrary to this popular belief, there is actually limited evidence to suggest that one perfect posture will eliminate your back or neck pain. Instead, it is recommended that we take frequent breaks. We all often tend to slouch after 15-20 minutes, its our body telling us that we should move. Go make yourself a beverage, use the bathroom or just go for a brief walk. Your body will thank you for it.
If you continue to have issues with your pain and would like to get back on track, book a physiotherapy consultation today with one of our friendly and qualified physiotherapists today to get an individualized assessment and treatment of your pain. Follow us on Instagram for physiotherapy tips on setting up an ergonomic work station.